Domaine La Barroche Liberty 2018
Regular price $62.00
Unit price per
Variety: 55 % Grenache, 12 % Mourvedre, 18 % Syrah, 10 % Cinsault 5 % Carignan
Country, Region: France, Rhone Valley
Appellation: Vin de France (Chateauneuf de Gadagne)
55 % Grenache, 18 % Syrah, 12 % Mourvèdre, 10 % Cinsault and 5 % Carignan, from Yannick Alliaud’s 50 year-old vines beside Châteauneuf de Gadagne, just 20km south-east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Yannick is the 5th generation to work his families vines growing on plio-quaternary terraces covered with river stones over red and blue clay similar to Chateauneuf’s La Crau plateau. De-stemmed, macerated on skins for more than 4 weeks and fermented in concrete tanks. Matured in old oak casks and 600 litre demi-muids for 18 months. Unfined and unfiltered.
‘Coming from very old vines and similar rocky, pebbly soils as La Crau in Châteauneuf Du Pape, the 2018 Vin de France Liberty is a beautiful, elegant wine that shows the soft, forward style of the vintage. Blackberries, violets, pepper, and some earthy meatiness all emerge from this medium-bodied, concentrated and elegant red. It's beautifully balanced and certainly competes with plenty of Châteauneuf Du Pape. Give it a year or two.’ (90-92) points, Jeb Dunnuck, June 2020.
'[Barroche] ‘Pure’ is as close to a great vintage of Rayas as one will find.' The Wine Advocate
Whilst this small estate is relatively new to estate bottling (first vintage 2003) in the list of producers of Chateauneuf, the Barrot family that owns these 12.5 hectares of Chateauneuf-du-Pape have been established in the village since about 1400. The average age of the vines at La Barroche is 60 years old and one third of the vineyards are more than 100 years old (Grenache). Most of the vineyards of the estate are located in the north and north-east of the appellation with just a few plots located close to the town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape on the southern side.
Vinification here is classic with cement tanks used for fermentation and a mixture of cement and large foudres used for elevage of the Grenache based components and smaller oak used for the ageing of Syrah and Mourvedre based components. In the cellar wine is moved by gravity and done according to the lunar calendar and weather patterns. The wines of La Barroche are modern in the best sense, clean, pure and brilliant.